30 Rock – Recap & Review – Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001

photo: nbc

30 Rock
Dealbreakers Talk Show #0001

Original Air Date: Dec 3, 2009

Laura Kelley – Associate Staff Writer
laurakelley@thetwocentscorp.com

All of Liz’s dreams are coming true in this week’s episode as she and Jack tour the new Dealbreakers talk show set. Liz is so happy she bursts into song, and since it’s Liz, the song is actually about ham. Jack makes the observation that she’s “like a swarthy, big-hipped Kelly Ripa,” and she has a fantasy that is rudely interrupted by Pete telling her that Jenna has locked herself in her dressing room.

Jack gets Jenna to come out by threatening to hire her nemesis Jenny McCarthy, so that crisis is averted. Liz finds herself right in the middle of another one when Tracy handcuffs her in his dressing room to get her to tell Angie that he wants a baby girl, which she does. Tracy claims that he can handle a daughter, despite having spent his son’s last birthday “at a better kid’s birthday party down the street.” Angie tells him he can have a daughter if he can prove he’s responsible, so he sets off to do so by doing all the Christmas shopping.

Meanwhile, Liz has to put someone in charge of TGS while she’s gone filming Dealbreakers. First, she tries Twofer, then Lutz, and settles on Frank after Lutz immediately vomits from the pressure. Frank’s first order of business is to take off the internet firewalls so there can be porn for everyone. Before filming commences, Jack gets a call from Devon Banks, who tells him that the Dealbreakers show can’t lose money or Jack will be ruined. Elsewhere, Tracy ruins his chances at responsibility by buying bling that says EGOT, representing his new dream to win an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and a Tony. While Liz gets bargain Lasik from Dr. Spaceman, Angie agrees to give Tracy a baby if he wins all the awards.

Tracy realizes that the only EGOT winners are composers and tries to steal Whoopi Goldberg’s Oscar, but gets caught. Liz goes kind of insane after the cheap eye surgery and a seriously horrific haircut and locks herself in her dressing room while appreciating the irony of the situation. Frank morphs into Liz due to the pressures of being in charge and also because she now has to cry through her mouth, in one of the funniest scenes of the night. Jack manages to sell off the opening credits to the show, which makes money. Thanks to a less-than-stellar song, Angie agrees to have Tacy’s daughter. I thought this episode was one of the most laugh-out-loud funny of the year, especially when we saw Kenneth as a muppet and Jack as…young Alec Baldwin. What did you all think? Leave your two cents in the comments below.